Review: Look Fantastic 1st Birthday Beauty Box

Look Fantastic are currently running a special 1st Birthday promotion where you can receive a FREE September Beauty Box worth £55 when you spend £55 or more! Usually their boxes are between £11.25 and £15 depending on your chosen subscription.

I was sent one of their Birthday boxes to review and was impressed to see it was packed full of products!

The box I received contained:

• Phyto - Phytokeratine Extreme (leave in conditioner)
• Tan Worx - Tan Maintainer
• Codage - Creme Gommante
• Sebastian Penetraitt shampoo and conditioner 
•  Bliss - Fabulous Foaming Face Wash
• Caudalie - Vinosource Moisturizing Sorbet
• Caudalie - Vinosource SOS Thirst Quenching Serum

I'm really looking forward to trying these out, especially the Phyto conditioner formulated for dry hair as my hair is in deep need of moisture!

Do you subscribe to any beauty boxes? What do you think of Look Fantastic's offering?

OOTD: A little Alexander McQueen...

Many of you have messaged me to request a few more OOTD posts in addition to the myriad of stream of consciousness photos I upload on my Instagram (@NatalyaFGM). So, I thought I would start with this fun one from last year on my Birthday! Since I'm not getting any younger I thought I would put together something a little more different to celebrate turning 25... again ;p.

It all started with the dress! I spotted this Alexander McQueen envelope dress in an outlet mall near Florence of all places. Despite it being heavily discounted I needed some convincing as I didn't think it was particularly flattering (there are about 600 folds of fabric at the waist, enough to make a tent), but in the end I decided that it was a piece of art worth investing in!

A few months later I still hadn't found an occasion to wear my first Alexander McQueen purchase. It was a little too short and eye catching for a wedding and the UK was getting colder by the second!

In the meantime I had come across these fabulous Carvela Kurt Geiger Gylda lace ups that I like to think of as a grown up gladiator. With their sharp high heel and cut outs the hubby instantly got excited and offered to purchase them for my Birthday. He rarely has any opinion on shoes, other than ranting that I have far too many (which is true), but given his enthusiasm I knew these must be pretty special.

So when my Birthday finally came around at the end of October I decided that it was time to try out the two most adventurous items in my wardrobe... despite the cold and rain! As Miley so wisely put it... it's our party and we can do what we want!

My Birthday.. in Vivienne Westwood!

On Saturday night I celebrated my birthday in Juju with 30 of my closest friends. We had a brilliant night dancing and drinking champagne till the early hours of the morning! I was very spoilt with lots of lovely presents and couldn't be more thankful for my amazing extended family (friends).

 Rubens Print Friday Dress: Vivienne Westwood Anglomania

I knew that I wanted a very special dress for my birthday this year, so I saved up and took my time looking for something unique. I have always loved Vivienne Westwood dresses for their gorgeous feminine shape and unusual fabrics, so when I spotted this Rubens painting print dress in Harvey Nichols I skipped into the changing room straight away. As this dress is a lot more pricey than my usual purchases I did 'umm' and 'aaah' about it for a while, but in the end decided to treat myself and I am so happy with it!!

For a little bit of a glow I skipped the fake tan (for fear of it rubbing off on my dress) and opted for He-Shi's One Day Tan (£14.50) instead. This gel cream is so quick and easy to apply, dries very speedily and gives instant colour, which is perfect for that special night out when you don't want to risk any streaking, or simply don't have the time to wait for your tan to develop.

I styled my hair with the Babyliss heated rollers and backcombed at the roots to make sure the volume lasted all night. To set the hair I used Pantene Volume and Body Haispray and Tigi's Hair Bodifying Sugar Spray (which smells delicious and holds really well).

For makeup I used Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation, a heavier base that would stay put all night. I set it with MAC MSF natural and contoured with YSL's Afrique bronzing powder. On the cheeks I used a mix of MAC's Well Dressed and NARS Angelika blush and highlighted with Guerlain's Butterfly highlighter. For the lips I chose an old favourite - MAC's A Rose Romance lipstick. On my eyes I used UDPP, MAC's Reflects Antique Gold all over the lid and Espresso in the crease. I finished off with MAC's Blacktrack gel liner and the most amazing mink lashes from Velour.

These are the You Complete Me mink lashes ($29.99) from Velour and they are my new favourites! The mink hair is so lovely and smooth, and somehow looks much more natural than plastic lashes. I would also like to point out that these lashes are cruelty free - the hairs are gently brushed from live mink and sterilized to ensure that they are hypo-allergenic.

I absolutely adore their shape, with natural lashes nearer the front and longer, fuller sweeping lashes in the outer corners that give a beautiful, flirty look. These lashes are extremely well made, easy to apply and super comfortable to wear. I have also found that they are much easier to clean, so much so that they can we worn up to 25 times!

I had such a lovely birthday and am very sad that it's all over. I hope you are all having a lovely weekend!

Are you a fan of Vivienne Westwood? What is your dream party dress? What lashes are you loving at the moment? xxx

Birthday OOTD

Last Friday was my birthday and though a lady never tells I can let you in on a little secret... it was quite a special date! In the evening we went for an amazing meal at Roux at the Landau in the Langham hotel so I decided to dress up a little for the occasion. As if I have ever needed an excuse!!

 Dress: Hobbs Fulham Dress (on sale here), Shoes: Manolo Blahnik.

For my makeup I kept the eyes very neutral with just black gel liner and false lashes. I then used a bright pink on my cheeks and lips - MAC's fuchsia blush and Barry M's lip paint in Shocking Pink (no. 52), which is  a great dupe for MAC's Girl About Town lipstick.

I had such a lovely birthday. Thank you to my mama and bf for making it so special! xxx

Birthday makeup

On Wednesday my bf took me to a lovely restaurant to celebrate my 23rd Birthday. It was an amazing dinner!

This was my makeup for the evening.

Products used:

Face- Mix of MUFE HD and Dior forever spf25 foundation

MAC MSF natural

NARS Laguna bronzer

NARS angelika blush

MAC MSF porcelain pink

 

Eyes-

UDPP

Chanel quad -silver e/s, Urban decay silver e/s, MAC knight devine, carbon, vapour e/s.

MAC blacktrack fluidline, L'Oreal voluminous mascara, MAC 106 lashes (my new love).

Lips- MAC cremecup

This is pretty much my go-to look for going out, a simple silver and black smokey eye, with a light pink lip. Do you guys have a look that you love and always do when you want to look your best? xxx

Birthday Blues

It was my boyfriend's birthday on Thursday so I created this romantic, flirty look to go with the light blue dress I was wearing. Since my bf doesn't like too much makeup (I guess he picked the wrong girl, right?) I decided to make it quite light, but add some drama with a defined crease and some eyelure lashes.



Products Used

Face:
MUFE HD foundation 115
Bobbi brown creamy concealer
Nars Laguna bronzer
MAC Moon River and Well Dressed blush

Eyes:
UDPP
MAC- Phloof, cobalt, felt blue, scene, print, deep truth, vellum, vapour.
MAC blacktrack fluidline
Covergirl lashblast mascara
Eyelure- Nicola lashes

Lips:
MAC Snob lipstickI am wearing a blue dress by ZARA and navy shoes by Kurt Geiger.

Hope you like it!
xxx